Half A Mind
by SkyeMiserable
Summary: "You gonna jump?" Sukai's head snapped up at the deep grumbling voice behind her. "I have half a mind to", if only the gods didn't curse her to live her miserable life, she would've.
1. Chapter 1

Sukai stared out into the vast ocean that was laid out in front of her. Her feet were dangling over the metal bridge in which she sat on and her hands clutched a metal support bar on either side of her. To a normal person, she might've looked like she was going to jump and she would've if she hadn't known that the gods were never that merciful to her. No matter what seemed to happen, she was destined to live her miserable life. She swiped a strand of blonde hair out of her face, aggravated.

Someone would think that a one bedroom apartment would cost enough for one person to support themselves, but of course not. She had to pay the price of a fucking car to keep herself afloat. On top of getting fired from her job recently, she had just figured out that she was failing all her classes and will not possibly graduate this year if she kept at it. How could she focus on school if in only 3 weeks, rent was due and she didn't have a dime to her name?

Sukai groaned as she thought of the hell she was going to have to go through again to find another job and to catch up on her school work. She rubbed her blue eyes and laid her head into her hands.

"You gonna jump?" Sukai's head snapped up at the grumbling of a deep voice. She looked at the red headed man in front of her, he was wearing black jeans, a white shirt and a white bandana tied over his head. She looked back at the ocean.

"I have half a mind to", she felt something hit her head and turned around the realization that he just smacked her head. He TOUCHED her, like actually put his hand on her head.

"Don't be an idiot, you don't want that", she wasn't listening to him and just stared wide eyed at him.

"You. Hit. Me", her body acted on its own accord as she got up and stared at his face. His eyes were surprised like he didn't know that it was such a big deal.

"Hey, it was a tap, nothing big", he shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't just touch her.

"Do NOT touch me, got it?" she glared daggers at him as he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Got it. Got it. No touching as long as you don't do jumpy". She grumbled and turned on her heel, preparing to grumble herself all the way to her shitty house and get some sleep.

"Oi, where are you going?" the red headed man jogged up to her and kept stride with her. Sukai continued to walk as if he hadn't even spoken. He grabbed her arm and when she whipped around he dropped it quickly.

"I just want to make to make you are ok…just.. ugh… just don't think about jumping anymore", he stammered as he tried to find the right words to say. "I'm not good at this stuff, I just don't want to come here one day and find out that you jumped off a bridge"

"I am fine, now can I go home without having a stalker follow me?" the man laughed and turned around, waving as he walked away. Sukai waited until he went around the corner and started on her way home thinking of the mystery man. He was gorgeous in a biker dude way, covered in tattoos and the bright crimson hair really gave off that vibe. It wasn't his fault that he touched her, he didn't know that physical touch gave her the creeps and she couldn't deal with any person's touch without thinking of his touch. His as in her father's touch, she moved out of that hellhole as soon as she was old enough to get her own job. She moved to the other side of Karakura Town. When she saw him in the streets, she walked right past him without a second glance and he did the same. She walked faster as she realized the sun was starting to set and she didn't like being caught in the dark.

Sukai froze as she heard the roar of something in the distance. Her eyes scanned the area for any potential threats and coming up with none she began to walk again until her legs collapsed under her. It felt like the pressure of the entire sky was on her shoulders. She panicked and began to look around again and tried to get up but could barely keep her head up. Footsteps that rocked the floor started towards her and she whimpered and put all her might into turning her head. What she saw almost made her collapse, a monster that looked like it was out of a movie stood 5 feet from her. It had a white mask and a massive body that had a gaping hole in the middle of it. What was this? Such a thing shouldn't exist, doesn't exist.

The monster moaned in delight at the sight of her and sniffed the air.

"Mmmm, I will love devouring you" Sukai stared at the monster with her mouth gaping open. Devour her? …..was that sexual or did he mean really eat her?

"Howl, Zabimaru" she heard the familiar grumble of the red headed male as a long blade extended into the mask of the monster. It howled in pain and dissipated, the pressure on her shoulders finally let off and she collapsed on the floor.

"You alright?" she looked at the straw sandals of the man and slowly nodded as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Fine" she wasn't fine at all, what was that monster? Who is this guy? She stared at him, he had his blade resting on his shoulder and had on a black and white kimono. His brown eyes stared not at her but past her. She turned around to see a short black haired girl behind her. Of course, the bastard had a girlfriend. They all have girlfriends, and to make it worse, she was cute.

"Oh…you were talking to your girlfriend.." she suddenly felt really awkward as she twirled a strand of blonde hair around her finger. She stared at her beat up black sneakers and suddenly felt out of place. She turned on her heel and walked away towards small apartment which was only a block away.

"Oi, where are you going? She's not my girlfriend, just my friend" he began jogging behind her again as he did before. Who was this man? Always trying to talk to her. Nobody talked to her anymore.

"Heard that line before, I am going home and going to pretend I did not just see you slice a monster in half. I need to go find me some work tomorrow before I go homeless" she waved lazily behind her as he heard his footsteps finally stop behind her. She walked up the steps to her house and sighed. What a day. She had half a mind to go back and talk to the biker guy but shook her head and opened her door.

**Thanks for reading ** feedback is appreciated!

~Skye


	2. Chapter 2

Sukai woke up to her alarm clock screeching at her to wake. She banged on the off button and got up, stretching as she padded down to the bathroom. She stared at the mirror at herself, long blonde hair, sky blue eyes, according to her father, she looked just like her mother. The spitting image of the bitch that left both of them as soon as she realized that having a kid required work.

Sukai went to work brushing her teeth and trying to get her hair under control and in the end just put it in a low bun.

"Now, something professional but not too dressy", she walked into her little room and opened a closet on the far right taking out a bunch of nice blouses and slacks and laid them out on the bed. She pulled out an ironing board and went to her ipod dock, playing some heavy metal music to wake her up from her daze. She plugged the iron in, leaving it standing on the board and walked to the kitchen to get some coffee. Opening the cabinet, she saw that there was only a can of soup and a loaf of bread. She groaned in frustration and grabbed a piece of bread and putting it in the toaster. No food, or coffee, it would suck if the electric got cut off too. Sukai felt a heat in her room radiating on her skin and ran to the bedroom to see the ironboard on fire.

The fire cackled like it was laughing at her misfortune. She spun around in circles for a minute, not knowing what to do.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" She ran into the kitchen, filling a pot with water and ran back her room and threw the water on the fire. It finally sizzled out and she slumped to the floor.

"Just my luck", She began to clean up the melted iron and what was left of the ironing board and threw them in a giant garbage bag along with all the soot and ashes it left behind. It seemed like she had done something to piss the gods off yesterday or none of this would have happened. She stopped in her tracks as she remembered yesterday.

The crimson headed man…the monster… the girl and finally her going home. Why were the gods punishing her if she didn't even want to be bothered with him? Every time she gets close to someone, they have a way of ripping away everything until there was nothing left but a black stain on the floor. She looked at the spot where the evidence of the fire left and let out a humorless laugh. There was nothing left but a black stain.

She looked at her wrinkled clothes and picked out the one that looked the least bummy and put it on. A cream colored shit with some brown slacks. She looked at her shoes and wanted to bang her head on the wall. They all looked trashy, like she walked through the mud too many times. She picked out some black ones and went to the sink, scrubbing at it with all her might. She scrubbed for 10 minutes straight before she threw the shoes in frustration.

"What is wrong with me? I can't even dress properly", she screamed in frustration, staring at the shoes angrily. All the fight left her just as fast as she looked sadly at her small house. She grabbed the shoes and put them on, and walked out the house.

Sukai had been walking for 3 hours already and none of the shops were hiring, she finally seen a small convenience store. Any type of income was welcomed with open arms. She walked in the store and heard a bell jingle. The store was small and cluttered, with dust covering everything and she groaned. If they have no work, how the hell were they going to pay for her?

"Oooooo, such a pretty girl. What can I help you with darling?~" Sukai looked at a blonde headed man with a green and white striped hat and a green cloak with straw sandals. He had a fan covering half of his face and his hat covered his eyes.

"Hello, I am looking for the manager". The bonde man's eyes lit up and crinkled at the end.

"That would be me", Sukai looked at the man in front of her. He didn't look like any manager she has ever seen but who was she to judge. His weird looking hat turned her off. Who wears bucket hats anymore? Sukai smiled politely and explained her problem.

"I am in desperate need of a job at the moment, I was wondering if you were hiring", she crossed her fingers and hoped he would say that they were hiring. This was her last option, she would have to resort to desperate measures.

Suddenly she heard the jingle of the bell behind her.

"Oi, Urahara, what's up?,,," The familiar rumble of a voice made her turn around surprised.

"Are you stalking me now?!" The crimson head male looked at her, just as surprised. He was pretending, of course she was being stalked now. It was a never ending cycle.

"What? What are you talking about?! I always come in here!" Sukai stared at him then threw her hands up in exasperation.

"First, this weird shit yesterday with you then I wake up and have no food or coffee! God forbid I don't get my early cup of coffee I might end up killing someone for it! My fucking iron catches on fire and almost burns down the house and now I have a stalker, great! I have been walking for 3 hours and nobody is hiring!" Sukai finished her rant and noticed she has been walking in circles in the store and left a circle of footprints in the dust. She glared at the man.

"It is your fault! The gods have cursed me because you came and spoke to me, now my life is going to go to hell!", The man was looking at her with his eyes bulging out of his head. He had his hand in his hair and was rubbing it awkwardly, looking at the store owner.

"Renji, what did you do this poor girl?" the man named Urahara stared at Renji. Finally a name, and one that suited him. She looked at Renji as he shrugged and glanced around.

"Nothing! She was going to jump off a bridge if I didn't save her!" Renji tried to defend himself and put his hands up in a surrender motion.

"I was not going to jump! I was just thinking about what I was going to do and bam! You come and try to talk to me!", Sukai was head to chest with Renji as she poked and glared at him with such anger in her eyes, he could see fire coming from them. Renji looked down at her with a weird look in his eyes. Urahara was a foot away with his fan open and looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" she whipped around and turned her attention to the store owner. "Your store looks like there hasn't been a customer in 50 years, if I didn't need the job so badly, I would have been scared to come in here!" Urahara finally couldn't help it anymore and let out a giggle that infuriated the blonde girl.

"What is your problem!" she made a move to walk out the store when she heard the store owner speak.

"You are hired, my young fiery one! Who knows how long I needed someone to keep things lively over here! Plus when Tessai isn't here, it looks like you can keep the two younger ones and any other trouble makers under control" he finally had his fan down and had a cheeky smile on his face. Her anger dissipated and was replaced with happiness.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" she ran up to the man and gave him a hug as he froze and then hugged her back.

"Come back tomorrow morning and we can work out a schedule, but here", he handed her a few dollars and tapped her hand.

"Buy yourself something to eat before you get home", he lead her out the store but before she was out the store, she turned and looked at Renji, his face dumbfounded. She gave a small smile and walked away feeling accomplished.


End file.
